Grant fighting on

In spite of everything that is going on around him, leaving us as fans often distraught, Avram Grant – talking to The Pompey Site – still believes that we can stay up this season and we will ‘do everything’ to make this happen: ‘we will do everything to stay in this league – and I believe we can do it.

‘I’m very happy to see the character of the players. Teams with players missing and injured could give up. But we haven’t.’

Next up for us, assuming the pitch is no longer waterlogged, are Sunderland in the FA cup at the weekend.

Following on from the Coventry win Grant is looking for more of the same as we chase a place in the last 16: ‘in the second half and in extra time at Coventry we showed a lot of spirit and character. We pushed, pushed and pushed. In extra-time we could have scored six or seven goals.

‘The Sunderland game will be tough for us. After their heavy defeat at Chelsea I’m sure they will want to show that was not a normal game for them.

‘The FA Cup is one game – and when we get onto the pitch we’ll want to win.’

It does seem that Grant is going to have to do without some more of our players as more departures do seem inevitable, which makes our survival task all the more difficult though…

Whilst the situation we are in is down to years and years of mismanagement Grant, talking to The News, also hit out at the premier league for keeping the embargo in place – which ‘might’ be lifted soon in some form: ‘I must tell you that I don’t understand why the people at the Premier League are doing this.

‘They need to think that there is a team here, there are supporters and all their life is about the team. There are players who give everything, and even the manager is being disturbed from doing his job.

‘I fully respect them, but I think they need to keep the spirit of the game, to give us a chance like the other teams – and I don’t think they’ve been doing this.

‘I’m not talking only about the money because I don’t know the situation. The spirit of the game in England is to be a fair game and at the moment it’s not.

‘I respect the people at the Premier League but I want them to understand that it is not only about a situation of money.’

Talks rumble on but we NEED something sorted out now before it is too late, and he knows this: ‘it’s not so good to do it in the middle of the season. They could wait and discuss everything at the end of the season.

‘The Premier League needs to think of all of the picture and not just part of the picture. They need to think about the players. They give everything in every situation.

‘They are fully committed at a tough time. When you punish someone you need to think who you are punishing.

‘I like the spirit of the English game and respect it – sometimes more than the English people!

‘I think the league needs to respect it also.’

To be honest I DO NOT think that the premier league should sanction many, if ANY money moves as such but giving us some leeway to bring in free agents and loanees is something that I believe that they should do, this at least gives us a chance! As things stand we seem to have none.

I maintain my thoughts that as much as those in power now, like those previously, might not be doing much to help PFC’s situation – on the face of it – that the premier league is quite happy to keep putting pressure on us as if we went down it would make life ‘much easier’ for them without us around ‘spoiling their party’…

Today is ‘said’, re the embargo, to be the day we will find out if this will be lifted?

Either way we MUST fight on, both on and off the pitch, until the bitter end even if with each day that passes – and more often than not each setback that arrives – this gets tougher and tougher but as much as that fat lady might have cleared her throat and is preparing to give the final chorus, until this is sung it is not over!